Monday, March 30, 2009

Foreign Market – March 30 , 2009

Friday, the US stock markets ended lower as traders booked some profit at the end of the week. The Banking stocks remained in pressure after JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America said that March has been a little tougher than prior months. The commerce department reported that the Consumer spending reported a marginal rise for the second straight month in February.

Among the corporate news front, General Motors shares logged gain but were knocked from session highs on reports that the company is offering union members $10 billion in preferred stock at a 9% coupon and $10 billion in cash amortized over 20 years.

Intel shares came into pressure after the company announced that it will issue a $1 billion common stock offering.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 148.38 points to close at 7,776.18. The NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) index decreased by 41.80 points to close at 1,545.20 and the S&P 500 (SPX) fell by 16.92 points to close at 815.94.

On the economic front, the personal income for the month of February declined -0.2%, while spending increased 0.2%. Real personal consumption expenditures, which is the main component in GDP forecasts, declined 0.2%.

US light crude oil for May delivery fell by $1.96 to settle at $52.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The crude prices touched a session low of $51.64 a barrel in the early trade.

Gold futures for the month of April delivery finished the session at $923.20 per ounce, down 1.8%. However, it hit session lows early in the morning at $919 per ounce.

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